The invention relates to a camera with a lens protective cover, and more particularly, to a camera having a lens protective cover which is movable between a first position in which it covers the front surface of a taking lens and a second position in which the lens is exposed, and also adapted for use with an electronic flash which is either internally housed therein or detachably mounted thereon.
A camera is also known which has a lens protective cover movable between a first and a second position in which the front surface of a taking lens is covered and exposed, respectively. Also a camera of this type is known which is adapted to be used with an electronic flash that is either internally housed therein or detachably mounted thereon. A conventional camera of the type described may include switching means which turns a power switch of an electronic flash on to enable a flash photography mode. However, in the usual arrangement, the switching means is separate from and has no association with the lens protective cover, and this causes a difficulty that the flash photography mode is maintained to continue a charging of a main capacitor of the electronic flash even though the lens protective cover is closed to disable a photographing operation of the camera. The difficulty is even more aggravated when a member which operates the switching means is mounted on a camera body and is closed or covered by the lens protective cover whenever it is closed, since then the cover must be opened before the switching means is returned to a position which disables the flash photography mode.
A version of a camera of the type described is also known which automatically establishes a normal focus setting whenever the lens protective cover is opened. Such a camera affords a convenience that a picture can be taken without defocussing effect as a result of a mistaken distance adjustment, since the taking lens is focussed to a normal focus setting when the lens protective cover is opened for taking a picture. It is to be understood that a normal focus setting is selected to permit a picture to be taken with a degree of focussing effect upon any object being photographed which is located anywhere in the sight. In particular, an optimum focussing effect is achieved at an intermediate distance of 3 meters, for example, while the focussing effect is somewhat degraded for shorter distances. Accordingly, if a flash photography is attempted with such camera without performing any distance adjustment when the cover is opened, there is an increased likelihood that a picture would be taken in an out-of-focus condition because most objects being photographed are located at shorter distances than the intermediate distance, as will be evident from the fact that the flashlight from a usual electronic flash of a small size irradiates a range having a distance on the order of 3 to 4 meters. Thus, a flash photography must be made after performing a distance adjustment to a shorter distance, which is inconvenient.
A camera is also known including switching means which enables a flash photography and which is adapted to move the taking lens automatically to a shorter distance than the normal focus setting whenever the switching means is operated to enable a flash photography. A camera of this kind has a difficulty that when a picture is to be taken in a normal manner with the camera preset in its flash photography mode, a distance adjustment must be performed after returning the switching means to its normal photographing mode, thus resulting in a troublesome operation.